CASE  OF  GENERAL  TOCHMAN. 


HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  December  10,  1863.— 
Referred  to  the  Comiuitree  on  Foreign  Affairs  and  ordered  to  be 
printed. 


GENERAL  TOCHMAN  TO  MR.  FOOTE. 

Richmond,  Va.,  December  5,  1863. 

Hon.  H.   S.   FooTE,  Chairman  of   thi  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs^ 
House  of  Representatives^   C.   S.   Congress  : 

Dear  Sir  :  Preparing  to  leave  this  country  to  take  part  in  the 
struggle  of  my  native  land,  Poland,  for  her  independence,  I  have  ad- 
dressed a  letter  to  the  President,  on  the  I9^;h  of  September  last,' 
soliciting  his  Excellency  to  adopt,  or  to  recommend  to  Congress,  some 
measure  that  my  pecuniary  claim  arising  from  raising  a  brigade  of 
foreign  troops  at  the  commencement  of  this  war,  could  be  settled 
with  me  before  my  departure  for  Europe — either  by  the  payment  to 
me  of  the  stipends  and  emoluments  of  Brigadier  General  for 
three  ycnrs.  it  being  the  period  for  which  I  raised  my  brigade,  and 
its  troops  being  in  the  actual  service  of  the  Confederate  States.     Or, 

by  refunding   to  me  my  actual  expenses  of   raising  those  troops 

amounting  to  $5,925  in  gold  and  >)  1,600  in  the  Confederate  States 
currency,  exclusive  of  all  other  lo;-3es,  for  which,  and  for  my  personal 
servict'S,  I  claim  nothing.  [Exhibit  A.]  No  answer  coming  to  this, 
my  request,  I  wrote,  on  the  6th  of  November  last,  to  the  Secretary  of 
State,  begging  him  to  bring  to  tlio  notice  of  the  President,  that  my 
speedy  departure  for  Europe,  whi  h  ranch  depends  upon  settling 
that  account,  would  greatly  henofit  the  cause  of  the  Confederate 
States,  as  to  maintain  there  that  position  and  confidence  which  I  pos- 
sessed before  taking  part  with  tlic  South  in  this  war,  it  will  bo  abso- 
lutely necessary  that  I  should  elucidate,  develop,  and  defend  the 
principles  which  determined  me  to  unite  with  them.  [Exhibit  B.] 
The  Secretary  of  State  having  declined  to  comply  with  that  re- 
quest,   I   came    to   Richmond    to    urge    this    subject,    ajid   hero    I 


found  out  that  the  President  referred  it  to  the  Secretary  of  War, 
with  certain  instructions  addressed  to  him  ;  and  that  the  Secretary 
decided,  that  the  War  Department  '"had  not  been  invested  with  the 
power,  or  means  of  paying  for  official  services  in  cases  where  no 
commission  had  been  issued."  As  this  decision  does  not  meet  the 
case,  I  Jiave  filed  in  his  department  a  paper  praying  for  its  review. 
The  enclosed  copy  of  that  paper,  [Exhibit  C]  contains,  at  full  length, 
the  President's  instructions  given  to  the  Secretary  and  the  decision 
of  the  latter.  Upon  the  perusal  of  the  foregoing  exhibits,  you  will 
find  that,  though  my  demand  of  settling  this  claim  before  departing 
for  Europe,  and  in  the  manner  set  forth  in  the  letter  addressed  to  the 
President,  is  based  upon  the  simple  principles  of  perfect  right,  justice, 
:ind  equity,  which  give  its  cognizance  to  the  Committee  on  Claims;  it 
IS  at  the  same  time  supported  and  interwoven  throughout  by  those 
r)rinciples  of  State  policy  of  the  Confederate  States,  and  emanating 
from  it  their  own  interest,  which  necessarily  give  it,  too,  and  with 
preference,  to  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs.  I,  therefore,  re- 
spectfully beg*  you,  as  the  Chairman  of  that  Committee,  to  submit  this 
case  to  their  cognizance,  mediation,  or  recommendation.  For  either 
of  these  actions,  I  beg  them,  in  the  name  and  for  the  benefit  of  bleed- 
ing Poland,  as  well  as  of  the  Confederate  States,  with  whose  cause  I 
became  identified,  by  raising  my  brigade  for  their  defence. 
I  have  the  honor,  sir,  to  be, 

With  the  utmost  respect. 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 

G.  TOCHMAN. 


[EXHIBIT  A.\ 
GEN.  TOCHMAN'S  LETTER  TO  PRESIDENT  DAVIS. 


Max-MeaeIows,  Wythe  County,  Va., 
September  19,  1863 


J 


To  His  Excellency f  Jefferson  Davis, 

President  of  the  Confederate  States ; 

Mr.  President  :  The  resolutions  adopted  and  recommended  by  Con- 
gress by  an  unanimous  vote  of  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  which  are  on  the  Calendar  of  that 
House,  for  its  action  at  the  next  session,  [Exhibit  A,]  would  place  me 
right  as  to  my  position,  both  here  and  in  Europe;  for  no  caviller 
would  be  able  to  infer,  and  set  forth  against  me,  charges  of  imputa- 
tion derogatory  to  my  character,  when  they  prove  and  show  plainly 
that  your  Excellency  refused  me  the  regular  commission  to  command 
the  troops  I  raised,  from  no  other  motives  but  because  the  Secretary 
of  War,  Hon.  L.  P.  Walker,  in  stipulating  with  me  for  raising  those 


troops,  exceeded  the  power  you  invested  him  with.     But  I  subwit, 
most  respectfully,  thai  the  Court  of  Claims,  to  which  that  committee 
leaves  the  seitlement  of  my  "pecuniary  grievances,"  not  beinjr  cre- 
ated yet,  it  would  take  at  least  a  year  or  two  to  recover,  through  its 
agency,  what  is  due  to  me.     At  this  juncture,  Mr.  President,  my  na- 
tive country,  Poland,  calls  for  my  services.     Ami,  as  the  recovery  of 
my  pecuniary    claim,  before  my  departure  for  Eui  ope,  might  enable 
me  to  render  her  some  signal  services,  may  I  not  hope  that  you  will 
be  pleased  to  take  proper  measures  that  this  claim  might  be  settled 
with  me,  \#thout  referring  it  to  the  Couft  of  Claims,  which  does  not 
yet  exist.     1  have  suffered  very  heavy  losses  in  the  property  left  at 
the  North,  in  the  abandoment  of  the  northern  clientel,  and  by  the  sep- 
aration from  my  family   for  more  than  two  years  and  a  half  already 
closing. "   The  loss  of  the  fees,  in  a  siiigle  case  of  the  heirs  of  General 
Kosciusko,  for  the  recovery  of  land  in  Ohio,  in  which  case  Senator 
Pugh,  of  that  State,  is  associated  with  me  as  counsel,  amounts  to  sev- 
eral thousand  dollars.     1  lay  no  claim  for  the  compensation  of  all 
these  losses.     I  consider  them  as  losses  resulting  from  the  ordinary 
course  of  the  war,  such  as  you,  and  other  loyal  citizens,  have  suffered, 
and  may  suffer,  by  its  incidents.     I  claim  only  to  have  the  right  to  re- 
cover, either   the  stipends  and   emoluments  of  brigadier,  for  three 
years,  it  being  the  period  for  which  I  raised  my  troops^  which  are  in  the 
actmJ  service  of  the   Confederate   States ;   or,   should  you  object  to  this 
mode  of  settling  with  me  this  account,  I  beg  you  to  recommend  to  Con- 
gress, that  my  actual  expenses  of  raising  those  troops,  and  of  living 
here  since  the  27th  of  April,  1861,  which  is  the  date  of  my  leaving 
Washington,  D.  C,  to  tender  you  my  services,  be  refunded  to  me,  with- 
out referring  them,  for  settlement,  to  the  court,  not  being  in  existence. 
Congress  would  not  refuse  such  recemmendation,  for  there  are  many 
precedents  on  the  congressional  record  to  show  that  this  was  done  in 
eases  less  urgent,  less  meritorious,  and  less  equitable.     The   gross 
amount  of  these  expenses  is  $5,925,  in  gold,  and  partly  in  Virginia 
and  Louisiana  currency,  when  it  was  at  par  with  the  gold  coin,  besides 
$1,61)0  in  currency  of  the  Confederate  States,  which  1  borrowed,  re- 
cently, for  my  support  here.     But  it  is  submitted  that  the  act  of  the 
Provisional  Congress,   No.    1(I9,  approved   May  8,    1861,  under  the 
authority  of  which  your  Secretary  of  War  stipulated  for  my  services, 
making  no  provision  for  refunding  such  expenses  for  raising  troops 
thereby  authorized  to  be  raised,  1  construed  its  intention  to  be  :  the 
usage  practiced  by  all  other  nations  and  their  governments  in  similar 
emergencies,  which  is,  that  those  military  men  (natives  or  foreigners.) 
who,  in   case  of  war,  undertake  to  raise  troops  for  their  own  com- 
mands, in  lieu  of  their  expenses,  and  as  a  recompense  for  their  ser- 
vices, receive  commissions  in  ranks  corresponding  to  the  number  of 
troops  raised,  and  the  stipends  and  emoluments  attached,  by  law,  to 
their  commissions.     So  construing  the  act  of  Congress  under  which  I 
accepted  the  authority  to  raise  troops  for  my  own  command,  and  rely- 
ing, bona  fide,  upon  the  express  agreement  with  your  Secretary  of 
War,  that  I  would  command  all  the  troops  I  might  raise  under  that 
authority,  I  did  not  expect  to  have  ever  any  liquidation  with  the  Gov- 


emment  for  my  disbursments.  I  did  not  keep,  therefore,  any  ac- 
count of  those  disbursements,  and  it  is  now  impossible  for  me  to  make 
any  specification  of  their  items,  or  to  support  them  by  the  vouchers. 
I  can  only  prove,  by  my  oaths,  that  their  gross  amount,  above  stated, 
is  true  and  correct,  which  oath  1  am  prepared  to  take  whenever  re- 
quired. And,  if  required,  I  submit  to  proving  the  loan  contracted 
for  my  support,  by  the  testimony  of  the  creditors. 

"Whichever  mode  of  settling  with  me  this  account  your  Excellency 
may  be  pleased  to  adopt,  the  sum  of  $1,10.5  S3  in  the  Confederate 
States  currency  should  be  deTlucted,  which  was  paid  to  me  i^  October, 
1861,  under  the  orders  of  the  Hon,  J.  P.  Benjamin,  then  acting  Sec- 
retary of  War,  as  coloneFs  stipends,  due  for  three  months  and  thirteen 
days'  services — including  some  expenses  of  the  postage  and  telegraphic 
dispatches.  It  is  hoped,  however,  that  should  you  prefer  to  refund 
aie  the  expenses,  they  will  be  refunded  in  the  same  currency  I  bore 
and  paid  them, 

Mr.  President,  allow  me  yet  to  submit,  that  but  for  the  unfortunate 
misunderstanding  which  arose,  as  it  appears  now,  from  the  Secretary 
of  War  having  exceeded  his  authority,  my  services  might  have  become 
very  valuable  to  the  cause  of  the  Confederate  States.  The  fact  that, 
in  less  than  six  weeks,  vpo7i  my  proclamation,  1,415  foreigners,  exclu- 
sive of  the  natives,  enlisted  into  my  brigade,  certainly  authorizes  an 
inference  that  I  could  raise  a  great  number  of  foreign  troops — had  1 
been  left  in  command  of  that  brigade,  which,  moreover,  by  the  mere 
power  of  influence,  might  have  checked,  considerably,  the  enlistment 
of  foreigners  into  the  Federal  army,  and  might  have  gained  the  Con- 
federate States  this  public  opinion  abroad,  thay  so  need,  to  obtain 
ocognition  of  their  independence.  But  whatever  would  have  been 
the  result  of  the  expectations  which  my  first  success,  herein  alluded 
to,  authorizes  me  to  infer,  the  enclosed,  [Exhibit  B,]  which  is  the  orig- 
inal charter  incorporating,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  a  "  Polish- 
Sclavonian  Literary  Association,"  composed,  as  the  charter  shows,  of 
the  most  prominent  and  powerful  leaders  of  all  political  parties  of  the 
Northern  section  of  the  old  Union,  of  which  association  I  am  the 
founder,  and  was  one  of  the  vice  presidents,  since  its  organization, 
will  disclose  to  your  Excellency  at  what  sacrifices,  of  the  material  in-. 
terests  of  Poland,  I  have  separated  myself  from  the  North  to  take  part, 
in  this  war,  with  the  South,  may  I  not  then  hope,  that  at  least,  in 
consideration  of  this  great  sacrifice  of  the  material  interests  of  Poland, 
for  the  exclvsive  benefit  of  the  Confederate  States,  the  simple  justice 
of  settling  with  me  this  claim,  would  be  granted  to  enable  me  to  serve, 
at  this  crisis,  the  sacred  cause  of  ray  native  land  ? 

Begging  for  the  preservafion  of  the  charter,  until,  I  call  for  it,  at 
the  Private  Secretary's  office, 

I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

Your  Excellency's  most  obedient  servant, 

G.  TOCHMAN. 


[A.J 

Extract  from   the  Report  of  tlic  Committee  on  Military  Affairs  of  thf 
Home  of  Representatives  of  the  Confederate  States  Congress. 

"  Your  committee,  to  whom  was  referred  the  memorial  of  Major 
Gaspar  Tpchman,  late  of  the  Polish  army,  &c.,  &c.,  have  had  the 
same  under  consideration,  and  beg  respectfully  to  report:  " 

Here  follows  the  report,  Avhich  concludes : 

•'  Your  committee,  fully  appreciating  the  patriotic  zeal  and  self- 
sacriticiug  devotion  to  our  holy  cause,  manifest  through  the  whole 
conduct  of  memorialist,  whilst  considering  the  court  of  claims,  pro- 
vided for  by  the  Constitution,  as  the  appropriate  tribunal  for  the 
investigation  and  adjustment  of  pecuniar}'  grievances,  recommend  tho 
adoption  of  the  following  resolutions,  as  a  just  tribute  and  vindicii- 
tion  of  the  character,  and   integrity  of  the  intention  of  memorialist. 

"  Whereas,  the  Secretary  of  War,  on  the  2l)th  day  of  May,  1861, 
authorized  Major  Gaspar  Tochman,  late  of  the  Polish  army,  &c,, 
&c.,  to  raise  ten  companies,  to  be  composed  of  persons  of  foreign 
birth,  and  to  enlist  for  the  war,  with  the  privilege  on  the  part  of  the 
privates  to  withdraw  at  the  end  of  three  years.  Or,  should  he  find  it 
practicable,  to  raise  twenty  companies,  which  would  be  organized  into 
a  br.gade ;  or,  to  raise  two  regiments  for  the  war,  to  be  received  with 
the  officers,  as  far  as  should  be  acceptable,  to  the  Confederate  Gov- 
ernment ;  and, 

"  Whereas,  said  Major  Gaspar  Tochman,  acting  under  said  authority, 
did  actually  raise  for  the  war  one  thousand  seven  hundred  men, 
exclusive  of  officers  ;  and, 

*'  Whereas,  it  appears  from  the  letter  of  the  President,  addressed  to 
said  Major  Gaspar  Tochman,  on  the  25th  of  October,  1861,  that  the 
Secretary  of  W^ar  was  not  authorized  by  the  President  to  promise  him 
the  commission  of  a  Brigadier  General,  but  to  tender  him  the 
appointment  of  a  Colonelcy  to  one  of  the  regiments  to  I 
raised,  it  is,  nevertheless,  due  to  the  honor  and  character  of  sai 
Major  Ga-spar  Tochman,  which  it  is  believed  the  President  has  n.- 
design  to  impeach,  to  admit  his  assertion  that  the  intention  of  the 
President  was  not  known  to  him  when  he  accepted  the  authority  to 
raise,  and  did  raise  troops  under  it ;  and  it  is  therefore, 

''  Resolved,  That  in  the  history  of  Major  Gaspar  Tochman's  eftbrts  to 
raise  troops  under  said  authority,  and  identify  himself  with  the  Con- 
federate States  army  of  these  Confederate  States,  Congress  finds  the 
most  praiseworthy  devotion  to  :sound  principles  and  free  government, 
and  nothing  in  the  least  prejudicial  to  his  honor  and  character  as  a 
soldier  and  gentleman." 

I  By  Mr.  Harris,  of  Missouri. — April  23,  1863. — Placed  on  the 
calendar  and  ordered  to  bo  printed.] 


LB.] 

**An  Act  to  incorporate  th"  Polish  Sclavonian  Literary  Association,  in  the 
State  of  New  York.     Passed  March  26,  1846,  by  a  two-third  vote. 

**The  people  of  the  State  of  New  York,  represented  in  Senate  and  Assem- 
bly, do  enact  a<!  follows  : 

"Sec.  I.  Major  Gaspar  Tochmau,  now  counsellor  at  law  of  the  bar 
of  this  State,  and  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  &nd 
associated  with  him  Hon.  William  H.  Seward,  also  counsellor  at  law,  for- 
merly Governor,  George  Folsome,  Senator,  Samuel  J.  Tilden,  member 
of  the  Assembly  of  this  State,  John  Davis,  of  .Massachusetts,  William 
Upham  and  Samuel  S.  Phelps,  of  Vermont,  John  McPherson  Berrien, 
of  Georgia,  William  S.  Archer,  of  Virginia.  Albert  C.  Greene  and 
James  F.  Simmons,  of  Rhode  Island,  Jacob  W.  Miller  and  William 'X. 
Dayton,  of  New  Jersey,  George  Evans,  of  Maine,  WHlie  P.  Mangum, 
of  North  Carolina,  Reverdy  Johnson  and  James  A.  Pearce,  of  Mary- 
land, Thomas  Corwin,  of  Ohio,  John  J.  Crittenden,  of  Kentucky, 
Spencer  Jarnagin  of  Tennesssee,  Senators  of  the  United  States  in 
Congress  ;  John  DeMott,  Albert  Smith,  Elias  B,  Hanes,  Erastus  D. 
Culver,  Washington  Hunt,  Hugh  White,  Abner  Lewi.s,  R  P.  Herrick, 
Horace  Wheaton,  of  this  State,  Andrew  Trumbo,  John  McHenry, 
William  P.  Thomasson,  of  Kentucky,  Julius  Brockwell,  Daniel  G. 
King,  Charles  Hudson  and  George  Ashmun,  of  Massachusetts,  Co- 
lumbus Dolano,  Samuel  S.  Venton,  Jesup  M.  Root,  Daniel  R.  Tilden, 
and  Joshua  R.  Giddings,  of  Ohio,  Jchn  Runk,  George  Syles  and  Jo- 
siah  Edsal  of  New  Jersey,  Alfred  Dockery,  of  North  Carolina,  George 
P.  Marsh,  and  Jacob  Collamer,  of  Vermont,  John  R.  Rockwell  and 
Samuel  D.  Hubbard,  of  Connecticut,  Robert  Toombs,  of  Georgia, 
Alexander  Ramsay,  Richard  Broadhead  and  James  Pollock,  of  Penn- 
sylvania, Bennou  G,  Thibaux,  of  Louisiana,  John  S.  Pendleton,  of 
Virginia,  Luther  Severa^me  and  Robert  F.  Dunlap,  of  Maine,  Henry 
W.  Y.  Cranston  and  L.  H.  Arnold,  of  Rhode  Island,  Edward  Long, 
of  Maryland,  all  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  Congress  ;  John  McLean,  Levi  Woodbury,  James  M. 
Wayne,  Samuel  Nelson  and  ,John  McKinley,  Judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  ;  Albert  Gallatin,  late  Envoy  Extraordinary 
and  Plenipotentiary  Minister  of  the  United  States  to  France ;  Theo- 
dore Frelinghuysen,  L,  L.  D.,  chancellor,  and  James  Tallemage,  pre- 
sident of  the  University  of  New  York  ;  Josiah  Quincy,  L.  L.  D.,  late 
president,  and  Jared  Sparks,  L.  L.  D.,  professor  of  Harvard  Univer- 
sity ;  Nathaniel  F.  Moor,  L.  L.  D.,  president  of  Columbia  College, 
P'Oiessor  Joseph  G.  Cogswell,  of  New  York,  Samuel  A.  McCoskry, 
j-iohop  of  Michigan;  Rfv.  G.  S.  Bedell,  of  the  Episcopal  church  of 
New  York  ;  John  McCloskey,  bishop  coadjutor  and  Charles  Constan- 
tino Pise,  D.  D.,  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  of  New  York  ;  Thomas 
H.  Skinner,  D.  D.,  of  New  York,  and  W.  B.  Sprague,  D.  D.,  of  Al- 
'  my,  of  the  Presbyterian  church;  Rev.  Henry  W.  Bellows,  of  the 
ivftitarian  church ;  Rev.  Edwin  Holt  and  William  R.  Williams,  D.  D., 


of  the  Baptist  church ;  William  F.  Havemeyer,  mayor  of  the  city  of 
New  York  ;  Josiah  Quincy,  Jr.,  mayor  of  the  city  of  Boston,  in  the 
State  of  Massachusetts;  Green  C.  Bronson,  chief  justice,  and  W.  P. 
Hallett,  clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  this  State;  John  Van  Buren, 
attorney  general  of  this  State;  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  district  attorn<  y 
of  the  United  States  ;  W.  P.  McCoun,  vice  chancellor,  and  Lewis  H. 
Sanford,  assistant  vice  chancellor  of  this  State  ;  Daniel  Lord,  Daniel 

D.  Lord,  James  Sanford.  J.  Prescott  Hall,  W.  B.  Lawrence,  David  P. 
Hall,  Jontithan  Miller,  Thomas  W.  Tucker.  Samuel  A.  Craps,  W.  M. 
Evarts,  John  .lay,  Charles  E.  Butler,  C.   H.   Piatt,  Morris   Franklin, 

E.  P,  Hurlburt,  John  Bigelow,  Edward  Sanford,  M.  K.  Zabriskie,  D. 
L.  Wite,  Mortimer  Porter,  Stephen  P.  Nash,  D.  W.  Walker,  Franci? 
H.  Upton,  Ralph  Lockwood,  Edwin  Stoughton,  Edwin  Burr,  D.  E. 
Wheeler,  Alexander  J.  Johnson,  H.  S.  Dodge,  C.  Van  Swartwood. 
Richard  II.  Bowne,  John  C.  Crosby,  John  H.  Magher,  Augustus 
Shell,  John  Slosson,  Stephen  Cambreling,  John  H.  Lee,  William  Van 
Wyck,  of  city  and  State  of  New  York,  T.  Parkin  Scott,  of  Baltimore, 
in  the  State  of  Maryland,  James  Page  and  George  W.  Page,  of  Phila- 
delphia, in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  John  Pickering,  Richard  Rob- 
ins and  George  Snelling,  of  Boston,  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts, 
all  counsellors  at  law;  J.  J.  Astir,  Edward  Treadwell,  G,  H.  Stry- 
ker,  Alfred  G.  James,  W.  Woodbridge  Hudson,  aad  Livingston 
H.  Miller,  all  attorneys  at  law  in  the  city  and  State  of  New  York; 
Richard  H.  Smith,  president  of  the  Union  Insurance  Company  of 
Philadelphia,  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Henry  Bohlen 
of  the  city  and  State  aforesaid ;  Dr.  Samuel  G.  Howe,  Amos  Law- 
rence, and  Charles  Lyman,  of  Boston,  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts; 

F.  C.  Tucker,  president  of  the  Leather  Mnnufacturers  Bank,  James 
Gallatin,  president  of  the  National  Bank,  Shepl^d  Knapp,  president 
of  the  Merchants'  Bank,  Reuben  Withers,  cashier  of  the  Bank  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  Preserve  Fish,  president  of  the  Tra'csmans' 
Bank,  George  Newbold,  president  of  the  Bank  of  America,  J. 
Oothout,  president  of  the  Bank  of  New  Y'^ork,  John  S.  StevenF. 
president  of  the  Bank  of  Commerce,  and  George  Curtis,  cashier  (  f 
the  same  Bank,  D.  Leavitt,  president  of  the  Bank  of  Exchange,  an* 
John  S.  Fish,  cashier  of  the  samft  Bank,  Robert  S.  Patterson,  nresi 
dent  of  the  Mutual  Benefit  Life  Insurance  Company,  James  G.  King 
and  Samuel  Ware,  Bankers,  Philip  R.  Kearney,  Secretary  of  the  New 
Y'ork  Life  Insurance  Company,  all  of  the  city  and  State  of  New  York  : 
Joseph  R.  Chandler,  proprietor  and  editor  of  the  Philadelphia  United 
States  Gazette,  James  W.  Webb  and  Charles  King,  proprietors  and 
editors  of  the  Courier  and  En^iuirer,  of  New  Y'ork,  John  H.  Guion, 
publisher  of  the  Morning  Views,  of  New  York,  Theodore  D wight, 
proprietor,  and  W.  B.  Townseud,  editor  of  the  New  Y'^ork  Express, 
Francis  Hall,  proprietor  and  editor  of  the  New  Y'^ork  Commercial 
Advertiser,  W.  C.  Bryant,  proprietor  and  editor  of  the  New  York 
Evening  Post,  Nathan  Hall,  proprietor  and  editor  of  the  Boston 
Daily  Advertiser,  John  L,  O'Sullivan,  proprietor  and  editor,  and 
Thomas  P.  Kettal,  and  C.  C.  Gardiner,  editors  of  the  Democratic 
Review,  John    Allen,   proprietor,  and  S.   Gaylord  Ciark,  editor  of 


the   Knickerbocker,    Horace    Greeley,  editor  and   proprietor  of  the 
New  York  Tribune  ;   General  John  Wilson,  of  Missouri,  Colonel  Jas. 
Monroe,  R.  Watts,  Jr.,  M.  D  ,  J.  II.  Raymond,  Fitz  Green  Ilallock,  the 
Poet,  E.  F.  Forestry,  William  Douglass.  Vanbri<^h  Livingston,  Camp- 
bell P.  White,  Isaac  T.  Smith,  Elijah  F.  Purdj,  James   Conner,  J. 
p.   Fowler,  Jacob   A.   Westervell,   Amos   Livingston,   John   Cotton 
Smith,  W.  E.  Whiting,  J.  W.   Bogare,  all  of  the  city   and   State  of 
New  York;  and  all  such  persons  as  they  shall  at  any  time  hereafter 
associate  with  themselves,  arie  hereby  created  a  body  corporate,  by  the 
name  of  the  "  Polish  Sclavonian  Literary  Association  in  the  State  of 
New  York,"  for  the. purpose  of  collecting  a  library,   and  promoting 
the  diffusion  of  knowledge  of  the  history,  science,  and  literature  of 
the  nations  of  the  Sclavonian  race,   giving   lectures   and   publishing 
tracts,  and  a  journal  in  English,  and  such  foreign  languages  as  the 
corporation  shall  deem  proper. 

*'  §  2.  To  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  purposes  for  which  this  corpora- 
tion is  created,  it  shall  have  the  power  of  holding  real  and  personal 
property  to  the  amount  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars, 
which  is  to  be  acquired  by  subscriptions,  gifts,  donations,  assignments, 
devises,  and  purchases. 

*'  §  3.  The  Executive  Department  of  the  corporation  shall  consist  of 
a  President, «two  Vice-Presidents,  a  Corresponding,  Secretary,  one 
Librarian,  one  Treasurer,  and  a  Board  of  Directors,  whose  number 
shall  not  exceed  eleven  menjbers,  including  the  President  and  the 
Vice-President,  who  shall  be  ex  officio  members  of  the  Board  of 
Directors. 

*'  §  4.  The  officers  enumerated  in  the  preceding  section  shall  be  chosen 
annually  on  the  29th  of  November,  by  a  plurality  of  votes  of  the 
members  who  shall ^  present  at  such  annual  meeting.  And  if  such 
meeting  shall  not  be  holden  on  that  day,  then  on  such  other  day  as 
the  President,  or  in  his  absence,  the  acting  Vice-President  shall  appoint. 

"'  §  5.  The  vacancies  which  may  take  place  between  the  annual  elec- 
tions, shall  be  filled  by  commissions  to  be  issued  by  the  President,  and 
in  his  absence,  by  the  acting  Vice-President,  with  the  advice  of  the 
Board  of  Directors,  and  the  officers  thus  appointed  shall  continue  in 
office  until  others  in  their  stead  be  elected  at  the  next  annual  meeting 
of  the  corporation. 

*'§6.  The  corporation  shall  have  the  power  of  making  such  by-laws 
and  regulations  as  they  shall  judge  proper  for  regulating  further  their 
annual  and  other  periodical  meeting;  for  prescribing  the  duties  of  the 
respective  officers,  and  the  mode  of  discharging  them;  for  admission 
of  the  new  members,  and  the  mode  of  suspending  or  expelling  such 
officers  and  members  as  the  safety  arid  honor  of  the  corporation  may 
n-^uire,  and  for  other  business  calculated  to  promote  the  object  and 
l^urposes  of  the  corporation.  But  it  is  expressly  provided  that  no  by- 
laws shall  pass,  or  be  changed  unless  the  meeting  shall  be  attended  by 
a  majority  of  the  members  of  the  association  residing  in  the  city  of 
New  York.  The  members  residing  in  the  other  States  may  send  their 
\otes  in  writing,  if  they  choose  to  do  so,  which  shall  be  counted 
with  the  votes  of  the  members  present  at  the  meeting. 


**§7.  Right  Rev.  Bishop  McCoskry,  George  Folsome,  Senator, 
William  G.  Havemeyer,  mayor  of  the  city  of  New  York,  Major  G. 
Tochman,  or  either  two  of  them,  are  authorised  to  invite  seven 
members  of  the  corporation  to  f.  rm  with  them  a  committee,  whose 
duty  shall  be  to  draw  the  first  by-laws,  and  to  submit  them  to  the 
decisioa  of  the  corporation  at  a  meeting  which  the  said  committee 
shall  call  as  soon  as  they  prepare  the  by-laws.  This  meeting  shall 
also  elect  the  officers  of  the  corporation  for  the  current  year. 

*'  ^^  8.  No  debts  shall  be  contracted  by  the  said  corporation  except 
for  the  purchase  of  books,  for  printing  and  rent  of  rooms,  and  the 
whole  amount  of  its  debt  shall  at  no  time  exceed  two  thousand  dollars. 

"  §  9.  The  said  corporation  shall  further  possess  all  general  powers 
and  be  subject  to  all  restrictions  and  liabilities  prescribed  by  the  Third 
title  of  the  18th  Chapter  of  the  first  part  of  the  Revised  Statutes  of 
this  State. 

*' §.  10.  This  Act  shall  take  effect  immediately. 

"  State  of  New  York  :  In  Assembly^  March  17,  1846.  This  Bill 
having  been  read  the  third  time — two  thirds  of  all  members  elected 
to  the  Assembly  voting  in  favor  thereof, 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Bill  pass.     By  order  of  the  Assembly. 

"  Wm.  C.  Grain,  Speaker:' 


"  State  of  New  York  :  In  Senate,  March  24,  1846.      This  Bill  hav- 
ing been  read  the  third  time — two  thirds  of  all  member  selected  to  the 
Senate  voting  in  favor  thereof, 
"  Resolved,  That  the  Bill  pass. 

"A.  Gardiner,  President .'' 
*♦  Approved  this  36th  day  of  March,  1846. 

"Silas  Wright." 


''  State  of  New  York, 

Secretary's  Office. 

"I  have  compared  the  preceding  with  original  act  of    the  Legisla 
ture  of  this  State,  deposited  in  this  office,  and  do  certify  that  the  same 
is  a  correct  transcript  or  exemplification  thereof  and  of  the  whole  of 
said  original. 

'*In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  affixed  my  seal 
z-^^-^^-N  of  office,    at    the  City  of  Albany,  this  26th  day  of 

\    SEAL.    /  March,  in  the  \  ear  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 

>-^^-^  ^  hundred  and  fifty-six. 

"N.  S.  Benton, 
'♦  Secretary  of  State:' 


10 


-UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA. 

"By  Silas  Wright,  Govrnor  of  the  State  of  New  York:  It  is  hereby 
certified  that  Nathaniel  S.  Benton  is  Secretary  of  State  of  the  State 
of  New  York,  that  the  signature  of  *  N.  S.  Benton,'  to  the  annexed 
exemplification  is  his  proper  hand  writing,  and  that  the  said  exempli- 
fication is  authenticated  in  due  form  and  by  proper  officer. 

*'  In  testimony  whereof,  the   great  seal  of  the  State  is 
--*^-^^-s  hereunto  affixed.     Witness  my  hand,  in  the  City  of 

<    SEAL.    >  Albany,  the   26th  of   March,   in  the  year  of  Our 

v-^-v^x^  ^  Lord,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-six. 

**  Silas  Wright."  " 
"Passed  the  Secretary  s  Office,  the  26th  of  March,  1846. 

**  Arch.  Campbell, 

"  Dept.  Sec.  of  State:' 


[EXHIBIT  B.] 
GENERAL  TOCHMAN  TO  MR.  BENJAMIN. 

Petersburg,  Va.,  November  6,   1863. 

Hon.  J.  P.  Benjamin,  Secretary  of  State  of  the  C.  S.  : 

Dear  Sir  :  By  raising  a  brigade  of  troops  for  the  Confederate 
States,  I  became  identified  with  their  cause.  The  refusal  of  the 
President  to  give  me  a  regular  commission  to  command  that  brigade, 
because,  as  it  appears,  the  Secretary  of  War,  Mr.  Walker,  in  stipu- 
lating with  me  for  raising  it,  exceeded  his  authority,  has  not,  in  the 
least  degree,  lessened  my  identification  with  that  cause.  It  has, 
necessarily,  deprived  the  Confederate  States  of  my  military  expe- 
rience and  services,  and  myself  of  the  privilege  of  serving  them  by 
the  side  of  those  foreigners  and  natives  who  had  enlisted  and  intended 
to  enlist  under  my  command.  But,  as  I  conscientiously  believe,  that 
I  have  not  misapprehended  those  great  principles  which  induced  me 
to  tender  my  services  to  the  Confederate  States,  I  have  kept  for  two 
years  and  a  half  just  closing,  uhere  consistency  and  honor  dictated  : 
in  a  private  retirement,  faithful  to  the  cause  The  passing  events  in 
Poland,  which  is  my  native  country,  and  the  attitude,  wliich  the  rest 
of  Europe  is  assuming  in  relation  to  the  Polish  question,  require  now 
my  services  there.  And,  to  sustain  there  this  confidence  and  position 
which  I  occupied  before  the  separation  of  the  South  from  the  United 
States,  it  will  be  absolutely  necessary  that  I  should  elucidate,  develope, 
and  defend  the  principles  which  have  induced  me  to  take  part  in  this 


11  ■ 

war  with  the  Confederate  States.  As  this  undertaking,  eventually, 
can  but  benefit  the  cause  of  the  Confederate  States,  and  may  probably 
lead  to  happy  consequences,  I  beg  leave  respectfully  to  submit  for 
your  consideration,  whether  it  would  not  be  within  the  province  of 
your  high  office  and  its  policy,  to  facilitate  my  departure.  I  wrote 
to  the  President  a  letter  on  the  19th  of  September  last,  of  which  the 
enclosed  is  a  copy.  Its  perusal  will,  I  have  uo  doubt,  convince  you 
at  once  that  my  demand  is  just.  It  is  based  upon  the  principles  of 
perfect  right,  and  self-sustaining  it,  evidence.  I  hope  that  it  requires 
only  to  be  brought  to  an  unbiased  notice  of  the  President  to  obtain 
his  accord.  As  this  result  would  accelerate  my  departure  for  Europe, 
could  you  not  consistently,  with  the  official  propriety,  lay  this  subject 
before  his  Excellency.  I  beg  you  most  respectfully  to  do  it  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Confederate  States,  as  well  as  of  Poland.  Should  you 
desire  an  interview  on  this  subject,  I  beg  you  to  notify  me  of  it  by 
addressing  me  a  note  to  Columbia,  S.  C,  care  of  Mrs.  Sosnowski, 
where  I  am  going  to-morrow,  and  propose  to  remain  there  until  the 
Ist  of  December. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

With  the  highest  regard, 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 

G.  TOCHMAN. 


MR.  BENJAMIN  TO  GENERAL  TOCHMAN. 

Richmond,   11th  November,  1863. 
Major  (r.  Tochman,  care  of  Mrs.  Sosnowski,  Columbia,  S.  C.  : 

Dear  Sir  :  I  have  your  letter  of  the  Gth  instant,  and  regret  that 
I  cannot  serve  you  in  the  matter  to  which  you  refer,  as  it  is  one  en- 
tirely out  of  the  sphere  of  my  official  duties,  and  in  which  it  would 
not  be  proper  for  me  to  interfere. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

J.  P.  BENJAMIN. 


[EXHIBIT  C] 

SpoTSWOOD  Hotel,  No.  107,      f 
Eickmond,  Va.,  Dec.  4   1863.  j 

Hon.  Jas.  a.  Seudon,  Secretary  of  War  : 

Sir  :  My  papers,  (marked  T,  W,  D,  246,)  being  on  file  in  your  de- 
partment show  that  the  President  referred  to  your  decision  the  sub- 
ject set  forth  in  the  letter  I  addressed  to  him  on  the  19th  of  September 
last,  by  endorsing  on  the  wrapper  of  the  bundle  the  following  direc- 
tions : 


12 

'*  The  within  letter  from  Major  Tochuiau  contains  statements  which 
your  record  will  test. 

"  1st.  That  the  Secretary  of  AVar  promised  him  the  appointment  of 
Brigadier  General. 

**  2d.  That  he  raised  a  brigade.  * 

"  3d.  That  I  refused  to  give  him  the  commission  he  had  a  right  to 
expect. 

"  No  notice  is  taken  of  the  fact  that  the  authority  was  to  raise 
troops  abroad,  and  that  they  were  raised  at  home. 

"  The  claim  for  money  you  will  notice  as  it  shall  be  found  to  relate 
to  any  object  for  which  the  funds  of  your  department  are  applica- 
ble." 

On  the  same  wrapper  below  the  President's  directions,  is  endorsed 
your  decision  as  follows  : 

*'  Secretary  of  War  :  The  papers  in  the  matter  of  Greneral  Tochman 
were  examined  last  winter,  and  he  was  informed  that  the  department 
'  had  not  been  invested  with  the  power  or  means  of  paying  for  official 
services  in  cases  when  no  commission  had  been  issued.'  He  subse- 
quently applied  to  Congress,  and  a  committee  reported  a  complimen- 
tary resolution  which  is  enclosed," 

I  beg  you  respectfully  to  review  this,  your  decision,  upon  the  fol- 
lowing grounds : 

1st.  In  the  bundle  of  the  papers,  my  letter  of  the  of  9th  September 
last,  refered  to  you  by  the  President,  is  missing,  I  infer  from  this, 
that  it  was  not  before  you  when  that  decision  was  made.  I  enclose 
herein  a  copy  of  the  missing  letter,  which  will  show  you  that  that 
decision  does  not  cover  the  case, 

2d.  It  does  not  cover  even  the  requirements  pointed  out  by  the 
President,  in  his  directions  numbered  1st,  2d  and  od,  and  as  it  does 
not  appear  that  they  have  been  specially,  or  even  generally,  tested  by 
the  record  as  the  President  directs.  It  is  true  that  you  say  in  the  de- 
cision that  "  the  papers  in  the  matter  of  Gen.  Tochman  were  exam- 
ined last  winter."  But  that  examination  was  confined  only  to  finding 
out  whether  a  regular  commission  was  issued  and  given  to  me  or  not. 
The  object  of  finding  it  out  was  to  enable  you  then  to  decide,  whether 
you  had  authority  to  pay  any  pecuniary  grievances.  The  points  now 
raised  by  the  President,  and  specified  in  his  directions  to  you  under 
the  numbers  1st,  2d  and  3d,  are  of  a  different  character,  and  if  fully 
established  by  the  evidence  of  record  in  your  department,  may  secure 
to  me  the  attainment  of  that  right  and  justice  which  I  claim,  and 
which  is  due  to  me. 

od.  It  is  erroneously  stated  in  your  decision,  that  I  applied  to  Con- 
gress "  subsequently "  to  your  informing  me  that  the  department 
"had  not  been  invested  with  the  power  or  means  of  paying  for  official 
services  in  cases  where  no  commission  had  been  issued.  "My  memorial 
was  presented  to  Cougress  in  January,  and  your  letter,  furnishing  me 
that  information  (without  my  request,)  bears  the  date  of  Febuary  17, 
1863.  The  complimentary  resolutions,  reported  by  the  comn#ittee  to 
which  you  refer  at  the  end  of  your  decision,  do  not  close  this  subject 
with  a  compliment  alone.     They  show  on  their  face  that  the  adjust- 


IS 

merit  of  my  *'  pecuniary  grievances  "  is  left  to  the  court  of  claims. 
But  as  this  court  has  not  been  yet  created,  and  I  am  preparing  to  go 
to  Europe  to  assist  my  native  land,  Poland,  in  her  present  struggle,  I 
therefore  brought  this  matter  before  his  Excellency  by  the  letter  here- 
tofore refered  to,  which  is  missing  from  the  bundle  of  papers  being  on 
file 'in  you  department,  begging  his  Excellency  to  settle  with  me  this 
claim  in  the  manner  stated  in  that  letter.  Your  decision  does  not 
meet  this  point  of  the  case, 

4th.  The  President  says  in  his  directions,  addressed  to  you,  "  No 
notice  is  taken  (meaning  in  my  letter  to  him)  of  the  fact  that  the  au- 
thority wasto  raise  troops  abroad,  and  that  they  were  raised  at  home." 
The  President  evidently  labored  under  great  mistake.  The  authority 
under  which  I  raised  my  troops  reads  as  follows: 

"  Confederate  States  of  America,  War  Department,  ) 
"  Mmifpomcry,  Maj  20,  \S6\.      ) 
"To  Major  Gaspar  T'>ciima\  : 

"  giR  :  You  are  authorized  to  raise  ten  companies,  to  be  composed  of  persons  of  foreign 
birtli,  and  to  enlist  for  the  war,  with  the  privilege,  on  the  part  of  the  privates,  to  with- 
draw at  the  euti  ofjjtee  years.  Or,  should  i/o>i  find  it  practicable,  you  are  authorized  to 
raise  twenty  compfWws.  which  \r,,nld  be  orf/onized  into  a  hrigcule.  Such  officers  of  the 
army  as  niaj'  be  necessary  will  be  detailed  at  such  points  ivithin  the  Confederacy  as  you 
may  indicate,  to  enlist  the  men.  Or,  you  are  authorized  to  raise  two  regiments  for  the 
war,  to  be  received  with  the  officer^  as  far  as  may  be  acceptable  to  the  Confederate  Govern- 
meiit. 

"  Verv  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"L.  P.  WALKER,  Secretary  of  War." 

Besides  this  evidence  refuting  the  statement  that  I  had  to  raise  my 
troops  abroad,  I  respectfully  submit,  that  the  enlistment  of  troops 
abroad  is  so  unfavorably  looked  upon  by  the  international  law,  that  no 
man  of  honor  would  undertake  it.  nor  would  the  President  be  war- 
ranted in  accepting  such  sort  of  services.  Vattel,  in  his  Law  of 
Nations,  book  iii,  chap,  ii,  sec,  15,  says  ;««***  The  man  who 
undertakes  to  enlist  soldiers  in  a  foreign  country,  without  the  sove- 
reign's permission,  *  *  *  *  violates  one  of  the  most  sacred 
rights  of  the  prince  and  the  nation.  This  crime  is  designated  by  the 
name  of  kidnapping  or  man- stealing,  and  is  punished  with  the  utmost 
severity  in  every  well-regulated  State,  Foreign  recruiters  are  hanged 
withottt  rMTcy  and  wi:h  great  justice.  It  is  not  presumed  that  their 
sovereign  has  ordered  them  to  commit  a  trime  ;  and,  supposing  even 
that  they  had  received  such  an  order,  they  ought  not  to  have  obeyed 
it — their  sovereign  havhig  no  right  to  command  what  is  contrary  to  the 
law  of  nature.  *****  \\^x^  if  jt  appears  that  they  acted  by 
order,  such  a  proceeding,  in  a  foreign  sovereign,  is  justly  considered 
as  an  injury,  and  as  a  sufficient  causp.  for  declaring  war  against  him, 
unless  he  makes  suitable  reparation." 

The  object  of  my  requesting  you  to  review  your  decision  is,  the 
expectation,  that  when  you  "  test,  by  the  record,"  the  points  specified 
in  the  President's  directions  addressed  to  you,  which  are  numbered 
first,  second  and  third,  and  when  you  disabuse  his  Excellency  from 
the  error  that  my  authority  required  of  me  raising  my  troops  abroad, 
he  may  yet  do  me  that  justice,  which,  when  due  to  me,  as  the  whole 
history  of  the  case  proves  itis  never  too  late  to  administer. 


14 

To  facilitate  your  search,  I  have  the  honor  to  communicate  to  you 
a  cfopy  of  the  memorial  pre-^ented  to  Congress  last  winter,  which  led 
the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs  to  adopt  and  report  these  compli- 
mentary resolutions  to  which  you  refer  at  the  close  of  your  decision. 
The  exhibits  numbered  3.  4.  ii,  7,  9,  1-3,  lo,  18,  19,  20  and  31,  con- 
stitute the  record  by  which  you  will  have  to  test  the  points  *is 
Excellency  desires  in  his  directions  addressed  to  you, 
I  have  the  honor,  sir,  to  be, 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 

G.  TOCHMAN. 


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